Summary: The wisdom of Eastern Orthodox saints on contemplative discipleship reflected in the Jesus Prayer.
One of the gifts of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the whole of the Christian community is the Jesus Prayer. This is also known as the prayer of the heart. In its most familiar form, it is the single petition, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” One can also shorten it in various ways. It is typical to pray this softly or silently repeatedly, coming to a place of stillness before God. As such, it is an expression of the yearning of our hearts for God above all. Thus, it serves as a kind of doorway into contemplative prayer.
Nicholas Worssam, SSF, a Franciscan friar and theologian, begins from this place and introduces us to the saints within Eastern Orthodoxy. These are monastics for the most part, who explored the frontiers of this prayer and the depths of contemplative practice. Among those the reader will meet Evagrius of Pontus, Syncletica and the Desert Mothers, John Climacus, Isaac of Syria, Maximus the Confessor, Symeon the New Theologian, and Gregory Palamas.
On one hand, each has distinctive insights into the spiritual journey, reflecting his or her own journey. But at the same time, several themes recur: stillness and silence, the solitude of the wilderness, the recognition of bodily passions and how they may distract, and the processes by which the contemplative may come to a purity of heart. Evagrius is of note in his identification of the eight passions, a precursor to the modern Enneagram. There is also the movement from head or intellectual knowledge of God ascending to the wordless love of God of the heart. And when one is filled with the compassion of God this eventuates in compassionate actions in the world.
Each of the chapters includes questions for reflection and discussion. Worssam provides suggestions for further reading. We hear the Fathers (and Mothers!) in their own words. Not only does this instruct in contemplative practice. It also introduces us to their writings, whetting our appetites for me. For all these reasons, this is a valuable introduction to both the history and practice of contemplative prayer, beginning with the Jesus prayer.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Is a River Alive?, Robert McFarlane. W.W. Norton & Co. (ISBN: 9781324130734) 2025.
Summary: A nature writer weighs the question of rivers as living entities with rights as he explores three river systems.
Is a river an “it” or a “who”? When human activity endangers their flourishing, do we defend rivers as living beings with rights? These are the questions in the back of Robert McFarlane’s mind as he embarks on an exploration of three river systems. A dead giveaway is that for McFarlane, rivers are “whos.” Yet when he discusses the question with his son early in the book, it seems still to be an open question. For the son of a naturalist, the answer is “Duh, of course!” But it’s not so easy. How can something represented by people be alive?
He begins with the Rio de los Cedros in Ecuador. The Ecuadorian constitution recognizes and protects it as a legal person. His journey is one of discovering what, or who, is this protected river? He describes a wondrous landscape of a river rising in the midst of a cloud forest. One in the expedition studies mushrooms and finds several rare ones. He realizes there are several rivers, one underground in the channels of roots and fungi, the river that runs before them, and an atmospheric river above.
The second journey is to a river system of several rivers running through industrial Chennai, one that begins full of life but dies as it reaches the coast. One area is even erased from the maps, its existence no longer acknowledged. Erasure does not only happen to peoples. The account closes at the coast, and has McFarlane joining a group rescuing sea turtle eggs.
Finally, he journeys 600 miles northeast of Montreal, to explore Mutehekau Shipu, as the indigenous peoples call it. The river descends through a series of rapids to eventually empty into the St. Lawrence. As part of Canada’s hydroelectric boom, planners want to dam parts of it, a move indigenous groups are resisting. Before departing, a wise woman, Rita says, “To you, Robert, I would say this: don’t think too much with your head. Forget your notebooks on the river; leave them behind.” She encourages him to think like the river, to be a river. And over the course of the journey, this happens, even as he is nearly smashed to bits negotiating a set of rapids. Alive? This river throbs with a force all its own.
The trips are punctuated by visits in different seasons to a spring near his home, during a drought when it is nearly dried up, and later, when it has been replenished. The delight in reading McFarlane is how observant both of the familiar and the new and his ability to capture it in words.
Coming back to the question of the book I find myself cautious about the incipient animism of the book. Yet rivers do represent life even in Judeo-Christian scripture. The descriptions in this book portray each of the places as living, dynamic systems, not merely “natural resources.” However, we do not need to confer personhood on rivers to protect and seek their flourishing, which ultimately is our own. I grew up near the juncture of Mill Creek and the Mahoning River in Youngstown. A visionary lawyer protected the former. Our steel industries turned the latter into a dying industrial river. At one time it was the most polluted in the country. This book similarly juxtaposes flourishing and dying rivers and how all are endangered by human enterprise. So which will we choose?
Christ in Our Midst, Editors at Paraclete Press with chant by The Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9798893480283) 2025.
Summary: An artfully designed Lenten daily devotional incorporating chant, scripture, reflections, and journaling questions.
Another type of Lenten devotional includes a scripture text and reflection, often related to lectionary readings or simply the journey from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week. This Lenten devotional follows that model with a wonderful addition. It incorporates chants tied to the scripture readings for each day. The chant text and musical notation appears opposite the reflection. A QR code allows you to listen to a recording of the chant performed by The Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola.
Chants are provided for Ash Wednesday and each of the three days until the first Sunday of Lent. Beginning on the first Sunday of Lent, the chant is printed on that day and repeated throughout the week, with the QR code with each daily reading. Then chants are provided for each day of Holy Week, culminating with Easter. Finally, a chant is provided for Easter Monday, which serves as the theme for the Easter Week readings.
For those new to chant, there is an explanation of the history of chant and how the musical notation, consisting of square notes on a four line staff, works. I also learned that in contrast to regular musical notation, where the pitch of each note is absolute, pitch in chant is relative. In addition, since the chants are in Latin, a Latin pronunciation guide is offered. Nearly all of them are scriptural texts. The editors note that one of the reasons to use Latin is to provide a universal language for the church’s sung prayers. Many of the chants, or antiphons, are brief, from 25 to 50 seconds. There are several longer ones on key Holy Days, such as the beautiful “Ubi Caritas” on Holy Thursday. Finally, the intent is that we not only listen but join in singing, which I found myself doing.
I appreciated how well connected the chants were with the readings. For example, beginning with the fourth Sunday in Lent, the chant is “Ego sum resurrectio,” or “I am the resurrection and the life.” Each of the readings, beginning with the raising of Lazarus, explore our resurrection hope, a theme I found particularly meaningful in this first reading.
In addition to these elements, a reflection prompt and journaling space is proved for each day. Drawings of wildflowers set off each section. The devotional is hardbound with a ribbon marker.
I found that the incorporation of chant quieted my mind to receive and reflect upon scripture. This is a devotional I hope to return to in future Lenten seasons. I also want to acknowledge that I know I’m posting this on Ash Wednesday. But if you order this today, most shippers will have it to you within days for your use throughout Lent. (And it is OK to play catch-up!)
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Summary: A Lenten devotional, offering reflections from John’s gospel on meeting God as he is revealed in Jesus.
Another kind of Lenten devotional follows a particular text or texts in scripture. In this case, David F. Ford offers guided reflections in reading the Gospel of John. For Ford, this was an extension of a twenty-year effort to write a commentary on John. Here, working with church leaders, he distills his insights into a compact resource to use over the course of Lent, during holy Week, and into Eastertide. The book is equally usable by individuals or groups, or perhaps for a whole congregation.
A brief introduction elaborates the two purpose for which John wrote the gospel as stated in John 20:30-31. Ford rephrases this as follows:
“John’s Gospel is about meeting and trusting God through meeting and trusting Jesus, and then maturing into that core relationship of being loved and learning to love, open to the superabundant life he gives” (p. 2)
He follows this discussion with brief suggestions for the book’s use.
The first part of the book consists of five chapters, one for each of the five weeks of Lent. The first chapter focuses on John’s Prologue: how it speaks to our quest for meaning, the loving relationship between Father and Son pervades the whole, and how the Prologue centers on Jesus. The next three chapters focus on three questions. The second chapter centers on the question of identity: who are you? The Baptist’s “I am nots” yield to Jesus revelation of who he is to the Samaritan woman in John 4.
Then chapter three explores Jesus’ question to Simon and Andrew: what are you looking for? It’s the question of desire and Ford explores the different desires that led people to seek out Jesus as well as our own culture’s desires. Thirdly, in chapter four, the disciples ask “Where are you staying?” This is the longing for home, answered by Jesus invitation to “remain” with him and its ultimate expression in the allegory of the Vine. Finally, chapter five contends that glory is the inevitable consequence of meeting God in Christ. The ultimate manifestation of that glory is in the cross, revealing God’s deep heart of love.
The second part, in three chapters covers holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. On Holy Thursday, in the washing of feet, Jesus reveals his love for his disciples–received by the Beloved disciple, denied by Peter, and betrayed by Judas. On Good Friday, the trial revealed Jesus in truth, the cross reveals his love, intimately for his mother and expansively for the world, and his death addresses suffering, sin, death, and evil. Then on Easter, we celebrate the great surprise, revealed first to Mary, the apostle to the apostles, and to the disciples, now “sent ones” into the world, given his Spirit.
Finally, part three, read in the weeks after Easter, picks up on how we are part of the ongoing story. We share in the lessons taught the disciples, to be a learning, praying, and loving people. In his conclusion, he describes that as being called into God, into community, and into the world.
Several appendices take us deeper into the study of John. Appendix A parallels John 17 and the Lord’s Prayer. Appendix B offers a ninety day reading plan to read through John. Some use this for a year or longer. Sadly, the plan leaves off at day 83, an error that will hopefully be corrected in reprintings. In the first chapter, Ford alludes to the breadth of theology, which Appendix C fleshes out in reproducing the table of contents from another book by the author. Finally, Appendix D addresses the hope for Christian unity, prayed for by Jesus in John 17.
Ford does all this in 160 pages. Each chapter includes reflection questions for individuals or groups. In conclusion, Ford has done an amazing thing in distilling twenty years of study into a guide any congregant or inquirer may use.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Summary A collection of 96 readings from writers throughout church history spanning the season from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost.
There are a variety of ways to approach Lenten readings. My reviews for the next three days will reflect three different approaches. Today’s approach is to collect readings from a variety of writers. This collection of readings offers one of the broadest selections of readings I’ve seen both in terms of historical reach and inclusiveness across denominational and ethnic lines. The readings offered here range from early church fathers like Ignatius of Antioch and Augustine to Brennan Manning and Tish Harrison Warren. Women are well-represented, including Fleming Rutledge, Barbara Brown Taylor, Christina Rosetti, and Therese of Lisieux. Then among the non-white authors are Gonzalo Baez Camargo, Sadhu Sundhar Singh, Kwong Jeong-saeng, Kahlil Gibran, Howard Thurman, Sojourner Truth, and Shusaku Endo.
The other thing about this collection is that there are ninety-six readings in this expanded edition of an earlier publication. The expansion extends the readings into Eastertide and the period up to Pentecost. All of the readings are short, taking at most a few minutes. Many, apart from poems, are extracts from longer works. One of the values, then, of this work is to whet your appetite for great Christian writers. A section giving the sources of these works is included in the end materials. The readings are organized into seven sections. I will highlight one from each, though they are all worth reading!
Invitation
In Time for Reflection,” Howard Thurman invites us to do the hard thing of slowing down and reflecting on the “dead places” in oiur lives. We want to offer selves thar are “clear, unsullied, fresh, clean.” However we can only do so if we also offer the “tainted, painful, and tragic.”
Temptation
Fleming Rutledge’s “Too Good For Jesus” relates the stories of two women. One could not worship in a church with a crucifix behind the altar with the figure of Christ hanging on it. The other, in a Passion play could not join with a crowd crying “crucify him.” Both struggled to see the depth of human sin, their sin. They were too good for the saving work of Jesus.
Passion
G.K. Chesterton, that master of paradox, observes in “God the Rebel” the extraordinary idea that in Gethsemane, God tempted God, and did not break; that at the cross, God forsook God. Thus, for at least a moment, God was the rebel, identified with our revolt. He concludes that there is “only one religion in which God seemed for an instant to be an atheist.”
Crucifixion
Many maintain that religion is about what we do, the doing of good works. “It is Done” by Watchman Nee begins with Jesus declaration “it is finished.” He argues that our first step of faith is to cease doing and trust in what was done for us by Jesus. For example, he describes a man who cannot forgive, no matter how hard he tries. Nee counsels, “Do nothing at all” maintained that in Christ, not only his sins but he, the unforgiving, was born away, and that he could trust Christ to do what he could not.
Resurrection
Gregory of Nazianzus, in “Today I Rise” ponders the wonder of moving from crucifying Christ to sharing in his glory, of being buried with Christ, and yet, in our sins being passed over, we escape Egypt and are alive. And what can we offer the one who has done this? Only ourselves.
New Life
Hannah Whittall Smith in “Monday Christians” decries the divorce between “religious life” and temporal life. Christ would work just as much in those who “keep the house and make the bargain.” Her point was Christ’s intention that we know his abiding presence in all of life, even in “the homely path of everyday duties.”
Pentecost
Kwon Jeong-saeng in “The Church I Dreamed Of” describes his vision of a church he never built in place of a struggling village church. Though poor, they prayed, and loved, served and gave and transformed a mountain village. Then, sadly, it gave way to authoritarianism, power, and status. Instead of trusting God, God became a convenient instrument. In place of dreams, The author describes his wish to live as did those poor villager, in loving service.
This is a collection for slow and repeated reading. Perhaps it will become one you return to year by year. And meanwhile, we can explore the riches of Christian reflections over the centuries in the works these readings represent. And all of this will hopefully remind us of Christ, our bread and wine!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
An informal poll on my Facebook group confirmed by a landslide that people prefer old used bookstores over shiny big box chain stores. However, some dissented because “old” often means musty and dusty, and for those with allergies, that’s a non-starter. But for the rest of us, that’s just how bookstores are supposed to smell. It just wasn’t a good trip unless you acquired a patina of dust!
Firstly, consider the personality of old bookstores. They have such unusual names. A local store that is no more was called Acorn. Another favorite was Blue jacket Books. Then some stores bear the name (and often the personality) of their owner. I think John King’s Books in Detroit is in the running for the king of bookstores. I could spend a week there! Then there is the name of a store in my son’s home town, Birch Tree Bookery. And often, as with this store, there is a story behind the name!
While serendipity is part of a trip to any bookstore, used stores offer the serendipity of the backlist. In those old stores, you might come across an old edition of a book you had thought about buying twenty years ago. Other times, I’ll hear about an older work, and then there it is! Whereas I’m often looking for a particular book at the big box store, my attitude at the old bookstore is surprise me!
Of course, price sometimes figures in. While I’ve found some great bargains, I’ve also discovered that booksellers who last know what they can get for a book, and many sell online as well as locally. Realizing that you are supporting an institution you want to survive helps.
Finally, old used bookstores are great for aging memories. For example, roaming through John King’s last summer, I was reminded of the books we were all talking about in the last half of the twentieth century! I spend most of my time reading and reviewing books from this decade, so it’s nice to refresh the library of my mind with some of those oldies!
Five Articles Worth Reading
We were out for an early Valentine’s dinner yesterday. However, it didn’t dawn on me for awhile why I was seeing all these articles about romance books! If romance is your thing, the New York Times “Let Us Help You Find Your Next Book” series just posted its Romance recommendations.
Another reading list that came to my attention this week is “100 Black Voices: Books for Adults.” The New York Public Library compiled this list. There are even 20 titles you can borrow via Libby! A great way to celebrate Black History Month!
Here’s your long read for the week. With government funding for the humanities drying up, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has become the premiere source for humanities funding in the United States. Tyler Austin Harper discusses the hidden danger of this in “The Multibillion-Dollar Foundation That Controls the Humanities.”
Composer and poet Thomas Campion was born February 12, 1567. He remarked:
“From heav’nly thoughts all true delight doth spring.”
Miscellaneous Musings
Well, I’m going to make it. I’ll be reviewing three very different Lenten devotionals next Monday to Wednesday, One even incorporates chant you can listen to or even sing along with, complete with Latin pronunciation. These are all gems and I’ll be reviewing them just in time for Lent.
I missed this when it was first published and so picked up a secondhand copy at a used bookstore! Richard Powers’ The Overstory is an engrossing story exploring the ecology of trees and an unlikely group that comes together to defend the right of an old growth forest to exist. This book makes me look at the trees on my own property differently!
While I enjoy a good sports biography, particularly of someone in baseball, I think there is only one Olympic biography that I’d be interested in reading, that of Jesse Owens. Part of it has to do with his Ohio State connection and part is that his is a heroic story. Are there some I’m overlooking? I’d love to know!
Next Week’s Reviews
Monday: Editors at Plough Publishing, Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter
Tuesday: David F. Ford, Meeting God in John
Wednesday: Editors at Paraclete Press, Christ in our Midst
Thursday: Robert MacFarlane, Is a River Alive?
Friday: Nicholas Worssam, SSF, In the Stillness, Waiting
So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for February 8-14.
Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.
Summary: In the midst of pain, God may seem distant. Healing begins when we drop our masks, discovering God’s love and presence.
Let’s be honest. There are times when it just feels like God has left the building. Life isn’t working out as we’d like. Or, we are in the pit of deep depression or besieged with anxious thoughts. Dominique Young writes out of her own experience of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. She is a child of divorce and growing up was traumatic, at times. People in church had no clue. Faith felt like a facade she maintained, one she longed to drop. Yet, paradoxically, it was only when she dropped the facade that she discovered the nearness of God. In this book, she walks readers through her own healing process.
First, before we find God, we need to find ourselves. Sometimes, we’ve so cleverly hid behind the masks that we don’t know where we are. She helps us identify where we are mentally and emotionally. Then, she helps us identify the costumes and masks we’ve used that leave us so disoriented. As we do this, we discover our brokenness, the depth of our emotional emergency. Perhaps the most scary thing is naming it. But this is a step toward help and healing Young wants us to learn to be OK with. Finally, she helps us identify the lies we’ve been told and to replace them with truth. For her, the lie was that arguments must lead to separation, leading her to shut down when differences arose. She learned that love casts out fear.
Second, She addresses finding God. Young observes that often, our question, “God, where are you?,” is a rhetorical one. She challenges us to exchange that for an honest and earnest search, believing that God will find us as we seek Him. But sometimes, the darkness of our experiences of abandonment is so intense, we wonder where God was in the trauma. She encourages us to ask this but also to lean into what we know of God’s attributes and to look for evidence of his presence in the darkness. Then there is the issue of failure. Young uses her own experience of failing in creating an organization to explore God’s presence in our failures. Lastly, she explores the presence of God in the storms of our lives.
Third, she explores finding “us.” By this she means finding a walk, a life with God on an ongoing basis. For Young, it begins with the reality that God doesn’t just want to inform us, he wants to change us. Pain in our lives is sometimes one of the ways he does this. Also, we often want God to show up in power to change things when he wants us to learn the power of his presence with us in hard situations. Not only that, God wants us to learn its not all about us, but that being loved, we become instruments of his love with others. Finally, finding us means celebrating not what I’ve done, but what we’ve done.
Each chapter includes a Tracing God Devotional, Reflection Questions for journaling, and a prayer. In addition, Young often pauses during chapters to ask readers to reflect. This is not a book to be read quickly. Rather, one does well to have a journal at hand, and a box of tissues. It might be good to read with a trusted friend, practicing removing masks. And if it is too painful, use that as a cue to take a break, care for yourself, and return to what is painful with a trained counsellor who can accompany you through the pain.
Dominique Young invites those in pain who struggle with God’s presence to take the next step and follow a more intentional process of being honest both with oneself and God. Her own discovery of God’s presence and love in her dark places encourages the reader to persist in a seeking faith that is not a facade but one birthed both in adversity and biblical truth. And she holds forth the vision of not simply encountering God’s presence but making one’s life in that presence.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
There Came Both Snow and Mist (Sir John Appleby Number 6), Michael Innes. Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781504092074) 2024 (first published in 1940).
Summary: A gathering of Sir Basil Roper’s extended family and friends is marred when his nephew is shot in his study.
Arthur Ferryman has always loved Belrive, the home of Sir Basil Roper, especially the old priory ruins. So, you can understand his delight on being invited for a holiday gathering with extended family. But city is encroaching on country as Ferryman notes, watching the Cudbury Brewery neon sign pour tall cold ones over the priory ruins. Ah, progress!
Likewise, this is not an idyllic family gathering. Sir Basil has announced plans to sell his estate to fund a science expedition. Not everyone is happy, particularly those who could lose inheritances. Furthermore, a new pastime introduces a new element of danger–pistol shooting!
Yes, you guessed it. There is a shooting. Arthur, unsettled by the family dynamics, goes for an evening walk before dinner. At one point, he notices a figure on the terrace outside Sir Basil’s study. Not able to identify the person and not thinking too much of it, he continues his walk as snow begins to fall. As he is returning for dinner, he meets another person at the door, who is none other than Sir John Appleby, a family friend and dinner guest.
When they go in, they learn there has been a shooting in Sir Basil’s study. At first, because he was in there earlier, they feared it was Sir Basil. Instead, it is a nephew, seriously wounded in the right lung. He’s hanging on by a thread as an ambulance rushes him away.
Appleby is asked to join the local police to assist. Appleby more or less invites Ferryman to be his right hand man. Convenient, since Ferryman is our narrator! Typical of manor house mysteries, while Appleby investigates, the family all come up with theories, accusing most everyone in the house. There is even a confession. One of the family is even a would-be mystery writer with her own theories.
There is also some question of who was the intended victim. Everyone notes the family resemblance between Sir Basil and the nephew, as well as the nephew’s brother. This helps account for the variety of theories. In the midst of all that, and a house full of guns, Appleby has to find the shooter while we wait on tenterhooks to see if the victim will survive.
Not everyone appreciates Innes. I would describe his books as mysteries for the cultured, for those who like sophisticated dialogue and dry British humor. And he wrote in the 1930’s and 1940’s, a different time. But I enjoyed the plot development, the cast of characters, and how Innes employs Ferryman as narrator.
First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs, Terry M. Wildman, lead translator with First Nations Version Translation Council. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514007273) 2025.
Summary: A true translation using idioms of the indigenous peoples of North America.
The year 2021 marked the release of a different kind of Bible translation of the New Testament. In English, the translators used the idioms of First Nations Peoples of North America to offer a meaningful translation for these indigenous people. Now, those who translated the First Nations Version of the New Testament, have published a translation of the Psalms and Proverbs. They use many of the conventions introduced in the New Testament translation, including rendering the meaning of biblical names followed by the original name in parentheses. And cultural idioms significant to indigenous peoples of North America, are used in place of more familiar references. This rendering of Psalm 1:1-2 will give you a sense of this as well as introduce the FNV rendering of YHWH, usually translated in English translations as LORD.
Harmony and well-being rest on those who do not walk the path of the bad-hearted, the ones who do notstand with those who stir up disharmony, those who will not sit in a circle where others are spoken of with scorn and disrespect.
Instead, they take joy in Grandfather’s clear instructions. As the sun and the moon circle the sky, they think deeply about his ways.
The translators chose Grandfather to translate YHWH. This is the First Nations term for the Great Spirit used by many tribal nations. In the glossary, they offer an extended explanation of this choice, noting the unsuitability of LORD in the cultural experience of Native Americans for whom no cultural analogue for “Lord” exists. Also, they note the place of honor grandfathers enjoy in indigenous cultures.
Nevertheless, I have to admit I struggled with the term, while realizing that I am a cultural outsider. I do miss the assertion of God’s self-existence in YHWH, that all else derives its existence from YHWH. But I don’t have a better translation suggestion.
That aside, just as I found the New Testament rendering both fresh and accurate, so it was here. And for the Psalms, this is a freshness of reverent worship. I love the substitution of ‘tender sweetgrass” for “green pastures” in Psalm 23.
Then turning to Proverbs, I noted that Lady Wisdom is “Grandmother Wisdom..” She also has a sister, Understanding, and nieces Good Sense and Clear Thinking. This also resonates well with the matriarchal cultures of First Nations peoples.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is perhaps among the most familiar. Here is the FNV rendering:
From the strength of your heart, put all your trust in Grandfather, and do not hold yourself up with weak human thinking. As you walk the road of life, make every step a prayer. Grandfather will then make your eyes straight and your paths safe.
In conclusion, the fresh rendering of individual Proverbs made me linger over them, listening to their wisdom afresh. While Euro-Americans will gain fresh insights into Psalms and Proverbs, the “sacred songs” and “wise sayings” will hopefully deeply nourish the hearts of indigenous people as they seek to walk the harmony way
God Chose Me!, Lexa Hale, illustrated by Dana Regan. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609778) 2026
Summary: For children 0-3, affirming that they are God’s loving, good creation just the way they are and that their worth is in God.
Who of us hasn’t wondered at some point why we are the way we are? And who of us hasn’t wondered what God thinks of us, the way we are? Perhaps this accounts for the impact of Fred Rogers simple words, repeated on each show:
“You’ve made this day a special day, by just your being you. There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.” -Fred Rogers
That is the message of this new board book for children, ages 0-3, written by Lexa Hale and illustrated by Dana Regan. Hale affirms that God chose every aspect of who we are. For example, our gender, the color of our eyes, the shape of our nose, and whether our hair is curly or straight. Then God knows all our moods and even the times when we don’t like how we’re made. He also knows how we compare ourselves to others. And knowing all this, God loves us. “So, I’ll love who I am with all of my might!”
The colorfully illustrated book includes both boys and girls, and children of representing various ethnicities. There is also a boy wearing glasses (that’s me!) and a girl in a wheelchair. So, I’ll admit it. I struggled with self image because of those glasses! Here is a sample from the book:
Sample page from God Chose Me, Lexa Hale, illustrated by Dana Regan from publisher’s website
Hale uses a simple and memorable rhyme structure. This is one of those books to read with a child cuddled in one’s arm. I can imagine a child even saying these things with a parent as they read and making these truths their own. And who of us doesn’t need reminders that God chose, made, and loves us just the way we are?
Finally, this is the perfect gift for a baby shower, a baptism, or baby’s first Christmas or Easter. Then, if you have grandchildren, you may want a copy for when they come to visit. So, this is a book you might buy in quantity!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
